Football is here!

Although there were a few games yesterday, tonight is officially opening night for Minnesota prep football.

I'm at Moorhead's opener, where the Spuds will take on Fergus Falls to start the season for the second year in a row. Live updates below. Enjoy.

Posted by: Collins on 9/04/2009 at 6:22 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Spud headed to Select 15 camp

Moorhead's Eric Brenk, who will be a sophomore this fall, was one of 20 players from Minnesota selected to take part in the national Select 15 hockey development camp in Rochester, N.Y., from July 15-21.

He qualified for the camp through the state camp in St. Cloud at the end of June. The Select 15 camp is run by USA Hockey, and takes 102 players from around the country.

Posted by: Collins on 7/10/2009 at 2:12 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

MacFarlane hangs it up

Jim MacFarlane has resigned as Moorhead's girls hockey coach after 10 years patrolling the bench.

He amassed a record of 186-81-5 during that decade which produced the likes of Maggie Souba, Tanaya Reitz and Ashley Stenerson to name a few. He took the Spuds to three state tournaments in 2001, 2002 and 2006.

He said his most memorable games were the Spuds' 5OT victory over Bemidji in the section finals in 2002, and the 2OT loss to Cloquet in the 2006 state tournament. "That ('06) team probably shouldn't have been there, and we were right there with the second-ranked team in the state," MacFarlane said.

He was always one of my favorite coaches to work with, for sure, and I hope he gets back into the game later on down the line.

Since he still loved going to the rink, I'm sure he'll still be a fixture there, only now he'll be on the other side of the glass.

Posted by: Collins on 6/10/2009 at 5:08 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Class 1A finals

Watch this space for updates from the Class 1A side of the state track meet at rainy Hamline University.

Frazee's Skyler Jackson didn't set a record, but he defended his 100 state title on Saturday.

Jackson blasted off to a great start and led the whole way en route to the victory in 11.16. Nate Mattson of Hawley-Ulen-Hitterdal was third in 11.40.

Maddie McClellan of Perham was ninth in the 1,600 (5:19.50).

In the girls shot put, Perham's Heather Schulz was sixth (37-6 1/4) and New York Mills' Brittnie Menze was seventh (37-1).

Ada-Borup's Payton Kujava used a blistering first 200 to take second in the 400 (49.90).

Hawley-Ulen-Hitterdal's 400 relay of Kevin Olson, Brian Fetting, Justin Morrison and Mattson was sixth in 44.68.

Wadena-Deer Creek's Brigetta Berg was fifth in the pole vault (10-0).

Frazee's Jackson finished second in the 200 (22.92), and HUH's Mattson was fourth (23.38).

Mahnomen-Waubun's Anthony LaVoy was eighth in the discus (130-9).

Posted by: Collins on 6/06/2009 at 4:27 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Class 2A finals

The second day of the state track meet is going on, and we don't have a lot of area athletes going in the early session.

Fergus Falls' Haylie Zenner won the 800 for the second year in a row, running a 2:15.33 in the rain. Very smart race, and she held off Wayzata's Erin Krause for the win.

Moorhead's John Bye had an awesome 300 hurdles race. He had a great start and was the first racer over the first six hurdles -- not bad considering he was in lane 9 and couldn't see his competition. He was in second when he hit the second-to-last hurdle, and wound up sixth in 40.55.

Posted by: Collins on 6/06/2009 at 11:08 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

State track

Minnesota's state track meet is going on at Hamline's Klas Field, with the Class 2A events going on this morning, and Class 1A going on this afternoon.

I'll provide updates on this post throughout the day on local kids and how they're faring.

Class 2A
Moorhead's John Bye got into tomorrow's finals in the 300 hurdles, running a 39.90 to score the ninth and final spot. He failed to make finals in the 110 hurdles. Nine go to finals, and Bye ran a 15.43 for the 10th fastest time.

Fergus Falls freshman Haylie Zenner will get to defend her state 800 title. She took second in her qualifying heat with a 2:16.89 -- just .06 behind Eastview's Anne Ferguson.

Detroit Lakes' Ally Nielsen took ninth in the discus with a mark of 116-6.

Class 1A
Frazee's Skyler Jackson broke his own state record in the 100, running a 10.81 in the prelims. He and Jordan's Cameron Boy both ran 10.81, but Jackson beat him by .003. Jackson also qualified for the finals in the 200, and finished fourth in the triple jump (43-4 1/2).

Hawley-Ulen-Hitterdal's Nate Mattson had a big day, qualifying for the finals in the 100 (10.85), the 200 (22.39, school record), and 400 relay (44.31). The other members of the relay were Kevin Olson, Brian Fetting and Justin Morrison.

Mahnomen-Waubun's Anthony LaVoy won the shot put with a mark of 54-8 3/4.

Perham's Maddie McClellan won the 3,200 in 11:00.99. Fellow Yellow Jacket Elisa Moenkedick was second in the discus (135-4).

Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton's Cody Stuhaug cleared 13-0 to finish sixth in the pole vault, and Frazee's Hannah Daggett was seventh in the high jump (5-2).

Posted by: Collins on 6/05/2009 at 10:21 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Cullen update

I just ran across this story about former Spuds hockey player Matt Cullen.

The Hurricanes are out of the playoffs, but Cullen had a decent run through the postseason once he got healthy before the Penguins bounced Carolina in the Eastern Conference finals.

Here's the link.

Posted by: Collins on 5/29/2009 at 3:30 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Spuds golfers make state

Moorhead's boys golf team qualified for next week's state tournament, winning the Class 3A, Section 8 team title on Tuesday.

The Spuds shot 607 over the two-day tournament in Sauk Rapids to beat runner-up Alexandria by 10 strokes.

Chris Sholts of Alexandria won the two-day tournament with a score of 146. Moorhead's Nick Olsgaard shot a 149 to finish tied for second among individuals.

The state tournament runs June 2-4 at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids.

Posted by: Collins on 5/27/2009 at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Ada back at state

The Ada-Borup boys basketball team is taking on Cass Lake-Bena in the first round of the state basketball tournament.

Live updates below.

Posted by: Collins on 3/26/2009 at 2:51 PM | Comments (6) | Permalink

Pelican Rapids at state

Pelican Rapids is set to take on defending state champ New London-Spicer in the first round of the state Class 2A boys basketball tournament.

Check this space for live updates during the game.

Posted by: Collins on 3/25/2009 at 5:28 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink